2.1 Study Area
Shivapuri–Nagarjun National Park (SNNP) (Figure 1) is the only protected area in the mid–hill region of Nepal. The Park covers an area of 159 square kilometers with a buffer area of around 118.61 square km. It lies within 27°45’ to 27°52’ N latitude and 85°16’ to 85°45’ E longitude. It has an altitude ranging from 1360–2732 m ASL. The Park is rich in freshwater resources with abundant biodiversity, and cultural heritage (SNNP, 2017). The park possesses a subtropical to warm temperate with average maximum and minimum temperature of 19.9°C and 11.15° respectively with the mean annual precipitation of 236.5 mm (Climatic data from 1985 to 2017 AD, Department of Hydrology and Meteorology/ DHM).
The mountainous topography of SNNP with steep slopes of > 30% uses a pattern that constitutes 74.45% forest, 20.45% shrub land, 3.22% grassland, 1.80% cultivated area, and 0.055% other features (SNNP, 2017). Different forest types are present under different altitudes of the Park; Lower Mixed Hardwood, Chir pine Forest, Oak Forest, and Upper Mixed Hardwood Forest (Amatya, 1993). The major tree species are Schimawallichii , Alnusnepalensis ,Castronopsis spp., Myricaesculanata , Madhucaindica ,Pinusroxburghii , Pyruspashia , Aesculus sp,Acer sp., Salix sp., Lithocapus sp, Ilex dipyrena , etc.